Well, this is a find and a bit of a “who done it?” as the images are not comprehensive and the story is limited, though what’s there is interesting! It’s a 1927 Cadillac 314, the seller lists it as a convertible but it looks like a Sport Phaeton, and it has right-hand drive, how unusual. Let’s unravel the story, this Cadillac is located in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada and is available, here on eBay for $10,467 with twenty-five bids tendered so far.
The year 1927 was an interesting one for Cadillac as it introduced the LaSalle brand, a concept conceived by GM Chairman Alfred Sloan to help with price gaps. The LaSalle was never referred to as a Cadillac LaSalle, it was simply known as a LaSalle. But Cadillac had the upper hand with its prestigious models including the Town Cabriolet, The Brougham, Convertible Coupe, Five Passenger Imperial, Four Passenger Sport Phaeton, Seven Passenger Imperial Cabriolet, and the Seven Passenger Imperial. How Cadillac got away with using the name “Imperial”, I’m not certain as Chrysler started their Imperial model in 1926. The year 1927 spelled the beginning of a temporary end for Cadillac sales as their healthy 47K annual volume peaked but dropped to 42K copies in ’28 and then a rapid downward spiral to only 6K cars in 1933. Obviously, Cadillac survived the great depression, but many luxury marques like Pierce-Arrow and Dusenburg weren’t so fortunate.
The story around this Series 314 is that it started life in South America (the origin of its right-hand drive?), was later shipped to Florida, and then sold to a Canadian collector in the ’80s. And here it sits in a barn-like enclosure in Quebec. As stated earlier, the body style is difficult to detect but it is a top-down model with four doors and thus the belief that it is a Sport Cabriolet (the Series 314 designation covered many Cadillacs in ’27 and is a reference to the engine size in cubic inches). It’s almost impossible to tell what’s here and what’s not. Clearly, as can be seen in this image, there is a fender missing, and probably a whole lot more. The seller claims that there are enough spare parts to build two cars. He also suggests that this Cadillac would be “a nice project“. I think the jury is out on that one.
Here’s an image of the 87 HP, 314 CI V8 engine, as can be seen, it’s mostly disassembled. The seller states that he has two or three more engines but the one additional image reveals a motor that doesn’t look any better. There’s probably a sliding gear, three-speed manual transmission somewhere in there but it’s not referenced. When all together, this Caddy was probably a runner!
The interior was probably quite a sight at one time, it still is, but for all of the wrong reasons. Cadillac supposedly introduced shatterproof windshield glass with the ’26 model year, but judging from the large piece that is broken out, just beyond the big X, it doesn’t appear as if it worked as planned.
There are twenty-five bids pending, so there is interest in this car but I’m not sure how one can gauge what’s here with the jumble as it’s presented. The right-hand-drive aspect of this Caddy is interesting, I don’t think that I have encountered another U.S. domestic car from this era so equipped. Nevertheless, it all seems like more parts than a car, wouldn’t you say?
How much Indian rupees car Right Hand Drive! 1927 Cadillac Series 314 Barn Find
It could be magnificent. I don’t have the deep pockets required to make it so.
Not having “deep pockets required” is a common affliction. Finding one of the few skilled craftsmen that can transform the project and large sum of money into a proper fully functioning vintage motor car is not necessarily easy.
Particularly liked this AACA forum from late 2018 on the travails of purchasing and restoring cars of this era. Commentary by “edinmass” who is apparently highly qualified reveals critical flaws of even 100 point cars:
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/318980-1920s-cadillacs/
Some South American countries drove on the left – none do now.Some of the Canadian provinces did too.India still drives on the left.
Certainly not a common relic and looks restorable if enough rupees,shekels or newly printed dollars are spent.Duesenberg never competed with Cadillac or any other luxury car that was made on an assembly line.They were chassis only and custom bodies were offered.At one time,Cadillac offered so many body styles that there was no real reason to seek a custom maker and I know of one Duesenberg that had a 1933 Cadillac roadster body mounted and I have driven another one that had a 1928 roadster body installed to replace a damaged Derham custom sedan that was totaled by a streetcar.
It still exists,
4 or 5 years ago, my wife and I was in Cuba. In Havana, we hired a taxi and guide for a day. He was about my age,74, and was the proud owner of a 1924 Cadillac, 4 dr cabriolet. It was all original, V-8, 3 speed, right hand drive.this was the neatest car as he had to prime each cylinder through a little receptacle to the right of each plug, which he did with an enema implement. The engine was crank started and ran smooth as silk, very quiet and smoke free. We cruised around at about 45 mph, which made me a little nervous as it mechanical brakes and the hand painted, whitewalls, had more cracks than “Larry the Cable Guy”. He said his father got the car new and later was a concierge at a mafia hotel where he, our driver, learned to drive at 14 parking cars at the hotel. Tips were huge and he can’t wait for those days to return. He and his brother hid the car during the revolution and eventually he was allowed to keep the car due to his service in the Cuban army. All in all it was an enjoyable day cruising Cuba in a 1924 Cadillac!
We see a lot of these old ship wrecks now, it just takes to must money and time to restore, the average guy isn’t going do a project like that…….
As this is written the high bid for the 1927 Cadillac (actually 1926 per seller who has located serial number) is US $4338.00. Two bidders @ $10K plus have retracted their bids. Seller adds photos plus “Price is now $12.000!”.
Right hand drive was always an option on the Cadillacs through the twenties per technical data sections in the “Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805 – 1942.
The 1925 Desert Mail booklet of the General Motors Export Company highlights the overland mail and passenger service provided by the Narin Transport Company. Written in typical early 20th century prose it explains the hazards of crossing the mountain range and desert between Beirut and Bagdad in the early twenties. Absolutely worth a read.
The booklet: https://fuchs-online.com/overlandmail/files/The_Desert_Mail_General_Motors_Booklet_Small.pdf